Thread: First straight shave, OMG!

Yup. Got everything right except the, er, removal of hair part. Even the fabulous leg shot. Otherwise, perfecto!

Yeah, I'm gunna have another whack at the strop, and see if there really is a god...

Congratulation on your first shave. I hope it becomes as katharic for you as it is for many of us guys.

Ya know, I can really see that happening in a very short time indeed. It was such a nice feeling. Very technical and methodical. I like it. I'm gunna keep at it.

If you want to take another shot at getting it sharp before resorting to sending it out, the newspaper technique is definitely worth trying. For one thing, it's very user-friendly.

To elaborate a little on what Stubear said, use dark sections of newspaper (the more ink the better - see how much rubs off on your finger) and use 2-3 layers to add a tiny bit of cushioning. You'll need to position it at the edge of a flat, hard surface, like a glass shelf or table, a slab of granite, etc. It helps if you tape the corners so it stays put.

Keeping the blade flat on the paper, do spine-leading strokes with a little pressure, like spreading soft butter on toast. Test the edge against arm hair every 50 laps or so. A few hundred ought to do the trick, if the trick can be done. This was the only way I honed for a few weeks when I got my first (less than shave-ready) razor, and it actually worked surprisingly well.

Congrats, MistressNomad!

I can vouch for the shave-readiness of the razor, as I've done several successful leg shaves with it. It's really sad to hear that the edge has gone now, but hopefully a good honing will fix it right up.

Your lather looks a little thin, but that may have to do with water quality. Harder water produces a thinner lather, and there's not much to do about it aside from filtering the heck out of the water.

I'm really glad I was able to provide some gear for you. Some of the gents here have been really good to me, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to pay it forward. Thanks for giving me that chance.

Good luck with the next shave!

Yeah... I kinda failed at the stropping it looks like. Onimaru55 reckons I rolled the edge.

The more I practice it, the more I realize how totally wrong I was doing it the first time I stropped it. I'm gunna give the newspaper thing a try, but I don't know if it'll work or not.

Judging by the fact that it took off my arm hairs when I first opened it up, I can't think of any reason it would struggle so much other than that. The angle was right, the pressure seemed right, I had a decent enough lather, the leather I'm using is good and smooth...

Ah well. Live and learn. At least next time I'll do it right.

Thanks again, and sorry I didn't give it the best welcome in the world...

Congrats on the first shave, even though it wasn't as good as you hoped

I guess we learn by trial and error. You'll get it, I'm sure.

I love my Wapi's...they do a heck of a job. If you find it feels off balance at times, try adjusting the position of the scales. Certain angles or areas on my face I have to do that to get a "balanced" feel that I don't have to grip too tight. That or I put the pad of my pinky finger against the scales to stabilize. With some experimenting, you can probably find a way to make it comfortable in your hand

It sounds to me as if you are off to a good start, if we didnt make mistakes we couldn't learn. You should be using only enough pressure to keep the blade flat on the strop, that takes very little, be sure to roll the spine and not the edge.. If you have a barbers hone you can straighten that blade back up in 15 seconds. You've done a great job and I hope you keep having good luck with this. Welcome!

Congratulations on your first shave!

Good luck with the stropping hope that you can bring back the edge.

Lu

Try laying the belt on a table of counter top so it's flat and try stropping that way. It could help with keeping the spine and edge flat on the belt